A collection of Indian tales of wit, wisdom, humour, bravery, devotion and lots more...

The Story Of Srirangam

On the occasion of Vaikunta Ekadashi, I thought of posting the story of Srirangam. Srirangam , which is a town in Southern India has the famous temple of Sri Ranganatha or Lord Vishnu.

There is an interesting story on how the Lord Ranga came to stay at this place on the banks of the Cauvery river.
The idol of Lord Vishnu, by name Ranga Vimaanam, was being worshipped by King Ikshwaku, who was the ancestor of Sri Rama. As we all know, King Dasaratha conducted a fire sacrifice for begetting children. He had invited all kings from all over the country and one Chola king from the South by name Dharmavarman also attended the sacrifice. He was mesmerised by the Vishnu Idol possessed by King Dasaratha and wanted to take it to his kingdom in the South. However King Dasaratha was not willing to part with the idol which he had acquired as ancestral property. Dharmavarman, disappointed returned to his kingdom and started to do penance to attain the idol.

In the course of time King Dasaratha had four sons Rama, Lakshmana, Bharatha and Shatrugna and we all know the story of Rama. Now, after Rama came back from Lanka and his Coronation performed was giving away gifts to all present. Vibheeshana, the brother of Ravana, who was also attracted to the idol which was now being propitiated by Lord Rama, asked permission from the Lord to take the Ranga Vimana with him to Sri Lanka. The Lord granted his wish but told him that the idol should not be kept down at any cost as it will not be able to take it back, once kept down. Vibheeshana agreed and left for Lanka with the idol.

Dharmavarman had prayed hard all these years that he should get the Ranga Vimana to his Kingdom. His prayers were to be answered shortly.

As Vibheeshana was crossing Southern India, he remembered he had to perform his evening prayers. He looked around and saw a boy there. The boy was none other than Lord Ganesha. Vibheeshana called the boy and told him to hold the idol till such time he finished his ablutions. He specifically told him not to keep it down at any cost. The boy nodded his head and took the idol.

After a while, the boy called out to Vibheeshana thrice and when Vibheeshana was deeply engrossed in his prayers, kept the idol down and ran away. When Vibheeshana finished his prayers he was alarmed to find the idol placed on the ground and try as he might, the idol would not come from the ground. It was stuck there. Vibheeshana was very very sad and disappointed when Lord Narayana appeared to him and told him that he would stay there but he would always have his eyes resting on Lanka from there. And therefore the Lord lies in Srirangam, with his head on the Western Side and eyes seeing the south. The entrance to the temple is also from the south and the sanctum also faces the southern direction.

Dharmavarman was greatly pleased and built a nice temple around the idol and was worshipping the same. Years passed by and over time the Cholas had shifted their capital to Tanjore. As it happens always,the fury of Nature prevailed and the temple was buried under the sands and its existence became unknown. Dense forests had grown over the soil not leaving a trace of the temple buried underneath.

After many years, a young Chola prince who went hunting near the Cauvery river was resting under a tree when he heard a parrot say a sloka in chaste sanskrit about a temple being buried underneath. The prince was surprised and tried to excavate, but could not find anything. Dejected, he started to build a new temple in the spot. The next day, Lord Narayana appeared in his dream and guided him as to where the Lord exactly lay. Overjoyed, the prince excavated in the spot and found the temple with its deity.
With great happiness and devotion he restored the temple to its earlier glory. The prince henceforth came to be known as Kili Cholan as he had acted according to the parrot’s directions.

On a magnificent cot having a thousand heads spread out, worshipped and praised by many, in an islet surrounded by Kaveri with bellowing waves, is the lying posture of the one who has Lakshmi sitting in his chest

Vidhyaa, Nice story. The only request is if you could replace the word ‘idol’ with ‘deity’ in your writings whenever you refer to the Lord would be appreciated. We do not perform idol worship, we perform deity worship. Hope it makes sense.
Regards, Haridas Varya Das

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Me

I am a mother of two children who love stories. I work in a senior position in the Indian Insurance industry. I have heard and read lots of Indian stories from my childhood and still read ,when time permits. Our stories reflect the values which were prevalent in the society from time immemorial and makes me wonder, how brilliant our ancestors were.
As a hobby, I find enjoyment in narrating the stories I have heard and read, in my own words. This is an attempt to preserve them for the benefit of present and future parents and grandparents and kids of course!!
I am trying to give a variety of stories right from the epics to folk tales to narrations of stories of great people who lived in this great land.
You, my dear readers , are most welcome to read the stories and give me your inputs that will enable me improve my presentation and content to make it more enjoyable to all.